A Stray’s Solitude (A KOW One-Shot)
by LeMafiaKreb
Summary: A little holiday present for any readers who stumble across it. :) It’s a one-shot that takes place in my Knock-On-Wood universe, during christmas-time, between KOW and KOS. Hope you enjoy!


Author's Notes

Alright, I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, so here goes...

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Uh... kool... Kwanzaa?

Oh, geez, there's a bunch of others... Uh... I think I'll stick to happy holidays, then.

This one-shot takes place between KOW and KOS, cuz that's when Christmas (known as Lord's day) takes place in that universe. Take this as a present, from me, to you. :D

Also, if you haven't watched Klaus, you definitely should.

Anywho, on with the story! (Ahem, one-shot)

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Jack's POV

Everyone was off to celebrate Lord's day with their families. Sarah was with her dad. The spider sisters went to their hometown, Nettle. Simon took a chance going back home after whatever it is that forced him to run away years ago, Izabell also went home, Eba's with her parents, even Adrian left to visit relatives.

But not me. I stayed behind. My only family was buried in the courtyard, and we never really celebrated this day together. Or at least, Cole and my uncle didn't make me a part when they did.

Most of the servants in the castle had asked for permission to do the same. Of course I agreed. Jealousy wasn't a proper reason for them to stay. Neither was crippling loneliness.

I watched snowflakes come down from the skies out my window, sitting on my couch in front of the coffee table. All the rooms in the castle were the same, mine just happened to be bigger. Perks of being a king, I suppose.

Music came from half a dozen jukeboxes within hearing range, various disks playing to multitudinous holiday tunes. The streets were plenty busy, some folks doing last-minute shopping while others were dancing about. Few places were still open two nights before Lord's day, since the employees also had families to go to. Lucky them.

I never knew what to do with myself during the holiday season. Much less now, having anything I could want at my disposal. The last week, when everything was picking up speed, all I did was wander the castle halls with no clear destination. Sometimes it was the kitchen, other times it was the library, the forges and workshops, or the courtyard.

More often than not, it was the courtyard.

Going outside was never that attractive an option. To me, it was the same thing to be outside in the cold than to be trapped within stone walls by myself. I'd just have to survive another Lord's day without losing my mind. An incredible feat, repeating itself ever since I can remember.

Lord's day always brought me back to when Cole and I were Just orphans on the street. Before uncle Troyel took us in. We were in no way related to the monarch, but he didn't like being called 'father', so instead he became our uncle.

We were close then, Cole and I. Best friends, and brothers above all. My uncle was making a show of being on patrol with his generals when he happened to stumble across a group of children, beating a little boy senseless. Just to be clear, I was the little boy. And I gave them a run for their money, let me tell you.

Cole ran up to the biggest one, dragging him away from me by the nose. He shoved the rest of the bullies back, picking up a random stick and trying to keep them at bay. Uncle Troyel scared those rats off, coming to stand beside me and Cole. He offered us a hand making something very clear.

"I am not your dad," he said. "I'm... your uncle. You've shown a great deal of valor, boy," he told my brother. "I think you'd make a great heir to the throne, wouldn't you agree?"

So he took us in, me begrudgingly. Fast forward eleven years, Cole becomes a spoiled brat, kills himself, I get prosecuted, the whole ordeal with Darkness goes down, the end. I managed to lose my brother, got an uncle, and then I lost him. Moral of the story...

My life sucks.

I blinked my eyes, stretching lazily. At least now my life could suck in a comfortable manner. I jumped off the couch, wanting to find a way to take the edge off my boredom. Loneliness and pain I could hide, but boredom was a killer that had to be dealt with properly. I took my crossbow off the wall along with my small bolt quiver thing, wanting to go outside and practice.

The wind had picked up somewhere between my room and the courtyard gate. Shivering, I pulled up the collar of my dark-cyan cloak over my mouth and the hood over my head. The sharp wind nipped at my unprotected cheeks. My nose quickly became ice-cold, as did my hands. I glared at the sky for ruining this before reluctantly sulking my way inside.

I sat down on one of the andesite tables in the castle dining room. The wind howled, saddened at my departure. One of the maids walked up to me. "My king? I was wondering if you could spare me for a couple of days? I'd like to visit my family this time of year."

I blinked up at her. "Yeah," I muttered. "You're free to go, Vess. Happy holidays."

The maid nodded. "Thank you. Happy holidays to you too."

I watched her leave, feeling hollow inside. "Yep. Only the happiest of holidays here."

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Valory's POV

The warmth and chatter coming from all over the house was contagious, as if an aura of mirth emanated from the padded brick walls themselves. Relatives were wandering from here to there exchanging stories and jokes. Lila, our mother and I were in the kitchen, preparing some pastries for the oven. It was strange, the way mom was acting. We never had a lot to talk about since Lila was her favorite, the super-student, the family's shining star, whatever. But when I was crowned queen of the spiders, there was suddenly much to discuss.

"Well, honey, what does it feel like to be royalty?" she asked me at one point. Our mom was tall and thin, always had an air of pride—almost arrogance—and a face that seemed to be unable to hold an emotion other than that and disappointment.

"It's..." I struggled to find words for a moment. "Stressful. It's very tough, nothing like what we were told as kids. I have to make a dozen choices every day, visit cities all over the realm, meet with ambassadors and other monarchs, participate in parades, basically split myself in half to do everything that's needed."

"Really?" she said with raised brows. "Oh, you poor girl."

"But it's not all that bad," I added. "Lila's with me every day, so is lady June. The Hanging Castle is spacious, the rooms are quaint and comfortable, I have servants willing to help us out with anything-"

"And her vocabulary's improved," Lila interrupted with a smirk. "You would not believe how many puffy words she's learned to say 'yes'. 'Of course', 'certainly', 'indeed,' 'indubitably'."

I stuck my tongue out at her jokingly, earning a giggle from the cave spider and a warm smile from my mom. "Well, if I'm going to be a duck, I have to walk like and talk like one too."

"Well, at least you're living comfortably," mom said. "When will your sweet mother and caring father be allowed to visit?"

I smiled at her. "Whenever you want. Just know that I might not always be around to see you. I could send Lila in that case."

Our mother nodded, going back to kneading dough. "Spending time with at least one daughter at the capital will be worth the journey, I suppose."

"Especially if it's your favorite daughter," I quipped jokingly. My voice carried a bit of resentment, but I don't think my mother caught it.

She raised a hand, placing it on her chest in mock surprise and a smile. "Dear, you know I have no favorite daughter."

"Not anymore," I said with a shrug. "You have your star pupil and now a queen. How could you possibly choose between the two for a favorite?"

Our mom, clad in her navy blue turtleneck, walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I've never had a favorite, hun, believe me. I've always loved the both of you equally."

I smiled, unsure if she was being honest or not. Her prideful face was hard to read for anything other than the obvious. "Maybe," I said, turning back to shaping the dough and placing it on a pan. "But now that I'm queen you've seemingly become talkative out of the blue."

She rolled her eyes, going back to the dough. "It has nothing to do with that," she assured me. I didn't feel all that 'assured'.

The three of us continued talking as we baked until every scrap of dough was perfect and then imprisoned in the oven. Taking a break from talking about being queen to every single one of our relatives, I put on my frilly coat—which I hated, but Lila and lady June loved—and walked outside. The cold air nipped at my nose and cheeks, a few snowflakes drifting over and greeting me with gentle touches.

I sat down on the front steps, thankful that my thick clothing protected me from the ice-cold wood's attacks. I hugged my legs to my chest, leaning against the brick pillars supporting the porch roof. I never gave much thought to the seasons, since I was always busy trying hopelessly to compete with Lila. But now that I had some time, I examined the my hometown dressed in white.

Winter was like a double-edged sword. Warm and cozy on one end, cold and harsh on the other. Okay, a strange double-edged sword. And everything looked so... white, and clean. Comforting yellow lights came from every window, their glow reflecting on icicles hanging from roofs, scattering pearls of warmth all over the snow. The fluff lining my coat's insides moved in the wind. I could hate the thing very much, but at least it kept me from freezing.

I heard the front door open and close and turned around to see who it was. Lila smiled down at me, walking over to lean against the opposite brick support. "Hey, sis. What're you doing out here?"

I breathed in the cold air, turning back to the calm whiteness that bathed everything. "I was tired of having to answer the same questions over and over again. Y'know, about being queen. So I decided to step out for a little while, get some fresh air."

"The only thing you'll get out here is sick," the cave spider joked.

"Not with this fuzzy-as-hell coat you wanted me to wear," I shot back with a smile.

My sister shrugged, crimson eyes filled with humor. "It's not my fault you look good in it. Why don't you like the coat anyway? It looks great, and it's perfect for this time of year."

I stared at myself. The black coat had puffy bits here and there, was soft both in and outside, and it hugged me in what Lila thought was a 'complementing way'. "It's... too frilly, and not my style. I don't like what it says about me, like I'm some sort of prideful woman of high standing."

"But you are a woman of high standing," Lila countered with a confused look. "The prideful thing needs some work, but-"

"I just don't like it, okay? It looks like something..." I didn't finish the though, unsure if my sister would take it the wrong way,

The cave spider thought for a moment. "Like something mom would wear," she finished.

I looked up at her, expecting some form of disagreement or anything, but was instead met with a humorous smile. I turned away shrugging. "Well... yeah."

Lila sat down next to me. "Alright. We'll find you a new coat."

I couldn't help but smile. "Okay. Thanks."

A few moments passed before she spoke again. "It's alright for you to not want to be like mom," she began. "I mean, looking back, she really didn't treat you well. Just don't hate her. Yeah, she thinks too highly of herself, and she can be difficult at times, but she's our mom."

I managed a smile. "I don't hate her," I murmured. "But... it feels sort of fake, the way she's been acting. I don't like it."

Lila rolled her eyes with a smile. "You don't like the coat, you don't like the way mom's acting, you don't like talking to our family—what the hell do you like?"

I shrugged, holding back a laugh. Silence stretched between us for a while longer. "I wonder what the rest of the gang is up to," I said absently.

The cave spider pursed her lips, staring at nothing in particular. "I guess they're all with their own families. Adrian weaseled his way out of coming with us saying that he wanted to go with his parents to visit relatives," she added.

"Which is great," I told her. "You would've embarrassed the poor boy to death, and who knows what twisted plan you'd come up with to trap him in a closet or whatever."

The cave spider showed me a sly smile. "Hmm, not much room to maneuver in a closet. Maybe the upstairs bathroom would be big enough..."

I covered my ears, feigning disgust. "Ugh, no, don't tell me any of that!"

A laugh escaped her. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

Shaking my head, I slowly managed to stop giggling out of embarrassment. "See? This is what I meant! I have no idea how Adrian can deal with you."

"I don't either," she answered, "but I'm glad. He's honestly the best person—besides me, of course—that I've ever met."

I rolled my eyes. "You really are your mother's daughter."

Lila shrugged. "So are you. I mean, those first few weeks after Jack finally agreed to date you, that stray was all you'd ever talk about. You were so proud of yourself, all giddy and whatnot."

My cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Then a sharp realization hit me. My sister noticed the sudden change in my posture, her brows furrowing in concern and confusion. "What's wrong?"

I suddenly felt awful. "It's... it's Jack. Everyone else is going to their families, but Jack..."

Lila seemed to reach the same conclusion I had. "He doesn't have one," she muttered.

I shook my head sadly. "We just left him. I didn't even ask if he wanted to come, or if he'd be fine by himself." I covered my face with my hands. "I'm a terrible girlfriend," I whispered.

The cave spider inched over, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No you're not. And I'm sure he'll be fine, you know Jack."

"No he won't," I whispered. "He's probably miserable, all alone in Veridon's castle."

Lila turned away, her lips pressed into a tight line as she moved closer, pilling me away from the brick pillar and wrapping me in a hug. "He'll be fine, Val," she assured me.

I simply blinked at her. The cave spider rolled her eyes. "Alright, so you won't believe that. What do you want to do? We can't just leave our family here to go spend time with that stray."

An idea crawled its way into my mind, and it seemed to have shown on my face because Lila frowned. "What're you thinking now?"

"We can't leave our family here..." I began, smiling faintly.

Lila's eyes brightened. "But we can take our family there," she concluded.

I nodded. "It might not be the spider clan capital she'll be visiting, but a castle's a castle, so I'm sure mom will be thrilled."

"Let's go tell everyone, make sure they're all onboard with the idea," my sister said, getting up and dragging me along.

I stopped her before the cave spider could open the door and blurt her plan out to everyone. "Wait."

Lila raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"We're going to tell them, but just so they agree," I cautioned her. "We'll wait for the pastries to finish baking and use them as... bait."

She smiled widely. "We are most definitely related."

I pushed her jokingly, and we walked inside to wait for the little clock sitting beside the stove to ding.

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3rd Person POV

The Ironstone Castle, as was the name of the fort sitting in the center of Veridon, was silent for the most part. Very few people still occupied the large building, most of them guards obligated to keep watch by their code of ethics or servants running last-minute errands. But despite the signs of life still present, the structure was very much quiet. Its halls were empty, their torches providing lazy illumination to the floor and walls, all doors closed.

A pair of guards sat across from each other at a small table. There were a few iron and silver coins stacked on it, holding the stare of both guards as they fiddled with cards held close to themselves. One of the men was about to play his cards when a knock on the door startled them both. Quickly going over to hide the money and playing deck, the other guard walked up to open the tall spruce gate a bit.

"Lady Valory," he greeted, hoping his surprise wasn't evident. "How good to see you."

The young spider queen smiled, noting how obvious it was that she'd caught him doing something. "It's good to see you too, good man. May we come in?"

The guard looked over Valory, his eyes widening. At least fifteen people stood behind the spider, young and old. Peeking over his shoulder to make sure their cards and money were hidden, the guard nodded and swung the door completely open.

Valory and Lila both guided their relatives through the door and into the castle. The cave spider smirked at the other guard, attempting to hide surprise and sitting on a suspiciously shiny wooden stool. "I'm not telling Jack," she told them mischeviously, "if I get half of that."

The guards looked at each other. They caved in after a moment, handing Lila half of their coins. "Pleasure doing business with you," the royal advisor said, following her family down the stone halls.

The spider queen led her relatives towards the large dining room at the back of the castle, when suddenly a door opened. Jack stood before her, both young monarchs looking rather surprised. "Hey, Val," the stray said, taking in the many people behind the spider.

Valory smiled, a little embarrassed. "Hey Jack."

Stunned for a moment, the skeleton king finally spoke again, a smile tugging at his lips. "What are you all doing here?"

Relieved that he didn't mind the sudden invasion, the young spider queen walked up and hugged her stray. "I didn't Ike the thought of you all alone during Lord's Day. So... Lila and I brought our family over, since you're part of it now."

Jack blinked, returning Val's hug slowly. Gears were spinning rapidly in his head, going in all sorts of directions, but one thought was clear. She'd said it, not him, so it had to be true. He had a family.

A smile bloomed on the young skeletons king's face as he tightened his embrace. Valorytook a reluctstep back, mirroring her boyfirend's smile. She walked over, taking a woman's hand and dragging her over. She sort of looked as if she were made of stone: tall, proud and dressed in dark colors.

"This is Gale, my mom," Val explained, gesturing to the woman. "Mom, this is Jack, my boyfriend and king of the skeletons."

Gale smiled almost pleasantly, holding out a hand to the young man before her. "Nice to meet you, Jack."

"Likewise, mrs. Flanell," Jack answered.

Valory started introducing the stray to every one of her relativu, and once that mess was dealt with, the young skeleton king led them all to the dining room. He sat with the spider sisters and their parents, asking the last maid that stayed behind to see if she could find one of the cooks and get them to prepare something for his newfound family.

It was everything Jack had seen from afar, and more. People all bunched up together, swapping stories or singing off-key, laughter and smiles everywhere. At one point, he and Valory walked outside to the courtyard, taking a break from the party. They held hands, standing beneath the cover of a snow-covered oak and watching more snowflakes flutter down. They didn't speak, didn't feel the need to at the moment. They were simply happy together.

The spider queen spoke at last. "So... how do you feel?"

Jack breathed in, turning to look at her. "Great," he said with a smile. "Better than great. I'm very glad to have you here." He leaned in to kiss the spider's forehead, turning back to watch snowflakes float afterward. "How did you bring them all over?"

"We promised them pastries," Valory answered, laughter in her voice. "It took two of the railway trains to move everyone here from Nettle."

Jack smiled, squeezing her hand. "You saved me from a mortal case of loneliness," he murmured.

Valory shook her head, smiling fondly back. Then she seemed to remember something. "Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to come with us to Nettle later tonight. You could spend the holidays there with us, if you want."

The young skeleton king only had to think about it for a second. "I'd love to go," he answered. "Y'know, to spend time with the family."

The spider hugged him, and right then, Jack thought to himself that no Lord's Day would ever be better, or even come close, to the one he'd be living now. After all, he'd never celebrated with a family before. And now, he'd make the most of the opportunity.

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Author's Notes

Awww

I almost forgot I was writing this. In all honesty, I believe it to be a little lackluster due to that. I could've gone in further detail, but I just didn't have time. Oh well, until next year.

Most of you are probably busy celebrating with the family (hell, that's what I'm doing) but I do hope the few of you that see this like it. :D

Anywho, thank you all for your amazing support, time, and patience. Have an awesome holiday season!

(Or what's left of it anyway)

~ LeMafiaKreb


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